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Sony SCD-XA5400ES output: hdmi or analog?

I've decided to replace my aging wadia 850 by a sony 5400es. As the wadia could be directly connected to an amplifier, in my case a ML336, i didn't use a pre-amplifier. Has anybody had any listening experience comparing the analog output of the Sony to a high quality line stage vs. it's HDMI-output to an A/V processor?
hitv
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Hi Hitv, I sold my Marantz 11S with the intention to buy the 11 S2 but then I got the Stereophile revieuw of the Sony 5400 es by Kal Rubinson.So I bouhgt the Sony instead.
No regrets;an fantastic CD,SACD. Better then my Marantz. But I am using only the (balanced) analog uitput to my Emitter Exclusive.The Sony looks (much) cheaper then the Marantz but sounds much better.I am not interested in HDMI so I am sorry about that.
Regards,
Ag insider logo xs@2x
dbphd
1,628 posts
 
As I understand it, DSD and multi-channel are only available via HDMI.

db
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,680 posts
 
Multichannel is available only via HDMI. All formats are available via analog. Only CD is available via S/PDIF.

Kal
hitv OP
4 posts
 
Thx for the feedback so far, guys.

Nabdric
Good to hear your opinion, make me sure it's a bargain.

Dbphd and Kal

My main focus is 2-channel sacd playback. As i have no pre-amp now, I will have to get one. I narrowed my options down to the Parasound JC-2 (analog input) and the Onkyo pr-sc886 (HDMI-input). Does the Onkyo (or Integra) accept 2-channel input through HDMI? If not, my problem is solved then.
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